In a variety of work industries (e.g., construction, material movement, mining, hauling, and the like), objects in a vicinity or within a path of machines on a worksite may disrupt working operations of the machines. Further, such objects may cause damage to the machine, or other machines operating on the worksite, if the objects come in contact with the machine. Additionally, said objects may disrupt a prior planned path of movement for the machine, whether the machine is being operated in a manual, autonomous, or semi-autonomous mode.
Accordingly, object detection is often used to ensure that existence of objects lying in the vicinity of a machine on a worksite, in which the machine operates, is known to one or more onboard or remote operators of the machine. Object detection systems and methods may utilize a variety of sensors, positioned proximate to the machine, to determine existence of objects, for a given space, within the vicinity of the machine. For example, visual sensors, such as a camera, may provide a feed of a certain view, relative to the machine, in which an operator may determine existence of foreign objects.
In some scenarios, a visual sensor is not practical and/or an operator cannot pay attention to such a visual feed during the course of working operations. Accordingly, other sensing techniques and/or devices are utilized to determine object presence, such as detection sensors, RADAR (Radio Detection and Ranging) sensors, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) sensors, and the like. By utilizing, for example, a radar sensor, an object detection system may scan a given space proximate to the machine and provide an alert to the operator, if data from the radar sensor indicates presence of an object within the given space.
However, raw data from, for example, a radar sensor does not inherently delineate whether an object detected within the given space is an object attached to, or otherwise associated with, the machine itself (e.g., ground engaging devices, machine frame elements, machine implements, and any objects purposefully attached to the machine) or if said object is a foreign object (a foreign object being any object not attached to, or otherwise not functionally associated with, the machine at a time in which object detection occurs). In such situations, object detection systems may provide an operator with false positive foreign object indications, because the data does not inherently indicate that such an object is not foreign, but rather a known, machine-associated component.
Therefore, object detection systems may filter out data indicative of certain objects that may cause false-positive detections, if not filtered. For example, an object detection system described in U.S. Pat. No. 9,260,059 (“False Warning Reduction Using Location Data”) utilizes positioning data in conjunction with a database of target objects, associated with various locations, to filter out false-positive object indications, during operation.
However, even if filtering, based on a false warning database such as that of the '059 patent, is utilized, the filter data may not be sufficient for filtering out all objects associated with the machine. Especially in the context of work machines, the non-foreign objects associated with the machine may frequently change and rarely do two machine configurations include identical machine components, wherein such components may fall in the purview of object detection sensors. Further, such machine-associated objects, such as machine implements (e.g., blades, rippers, buckets, etc.) and machine structures (e.g., beds, tanks, tires, etc.), may be moved into a variety of positions within the detection area and not all positions of such implements may be filterable based on information from a general false detection database. Therefore, improved object detection systems and methods, in which false warning conditions may be customizable to an operator's specific machine configuration (e.g., the configuration including, but not limited to including, one or more of implements used in conjunction with the machine, positions of said implements, components attached to a frame of the machine, and the like), are desired.